The
previous two images in this series took a room which was decorated in
a modern form with plain white walls and applied wallpaper in order
to create a quite different and, I think, engaging look.

I
commented in the last post that this room could perhaps be improved
by improving the rather anaemic looking patterns that are being used
on the cushions, the curtains, the pouffe and the carpet. I admit
that the patterns that are used are somewhat unimaginative but they
do, in my opinion, represent the sort of patterns that people are
using now.

My
idea was to create a stronger, bolder design that would bring out the
dimensions and shape of the individual objects rather than seeking to
camouflage them against a uniform backdrop of colour.

I
therefore created five separate patterns (in fact these are Belle
Epoque 2 designs that I had previously designed) and applied these to
the items above. The result is the image that you see and, to make
this clear, I have combined all of the patterns into a composite
which you will also see above.

I
think, and it is a matter of personal taste, that this room looks
infinitely better than the previous two because each of the
individual components in the room has a definite and understandable
identity. However, I have tried not to make the room look too strong
or too bold because I want this to be a room which is also relaxing
for the homeowner. But I did want to create a room which would be a
statement for the owner and a representation of their own taste and
style and thus make the room look unique rather than it simply
looking like all the other modern rooms that one sees so often.

I
have not created these patterns as fabric or as objects but if anyone
would like to use them please send me an e-mail to miket (at)
midcenturystyles.com and we will see what can be done.

These images are necessarily quite small but you can see much larger images of this, and my other designs and patterns for interiors, on my Flickr page, a link to which is here.

The
images above show the living room in a fairly typical suburban house
in the United Kingdom as it would look decorated to current modern
ideas.

The
walls are painted white as it is the paintwork (which includes the
door and the skirting to the room) and the floor has modern wooden
floorboards, intended to look like a laminated floor. Colour and
interest are provided by the decoration on the curtains, the pouffe,
the main rug and the cushions on the sofa.

The
room, finished in this way, is a pleasant one, light and airy and has
a modern look to it. Although you only see part of the room, in my
mind the unseen areas simply consistent of more walls making the room
rectangular, the remaining walls having the same decoration.

The
second image is exactly the same as the first image except that
wallpaper has been applied to all of the walls and the effect is
quite remarkable. Suddenly the room takes on a quite different look
and seems to come alive. I think this is because the individual
elements, the doorway, the sofa, the light, and the curtains are all
framed against the wallpaper pattern. Again, in keeping with modern
ideas, the wallpaper is not intrusive and is of a neutral colour with
a very small Belle Epoque 2 pattern which, at the scale used, does
not draw the eye and allows the walls to be complete in themselves.

I
like the way that modern houses are decorated with very
architecturally styled solid colours but I always feel that the house
owner will soon find the rooms soulless and boring because of the
lack of a decorated feel to them. Simply applying wallpaper to the
walls, in my opinion, creates a room that looks as though it will
retain interest over a much longer period of time.

This
is a simple addition and it immediately raises the idea that we could
experiment by brightening and decorating the look of the remaining
items in the room. I shall try to do this in the next post.

I
have not created this pattern as a wallpaper but if anyone would like
to use it as such please send me an e-mail to miket (at)
midcenturystyles.com.

These images are necessarily quite small but you can see much larger images of this and my other designs and patterns for interiors on my Flickr page, a link to which is here.

Bearing
in mind what I have already said about this design’s origin, you
would perhaps expect me to use a mid-century modern type room or even
a mid-century interior in order to display the paper. In fact I did
try this and it looked extremely good but, as I perhaps anticipated,
it looks even better in a modern setting.

This set is designed to represent an upmarket apartment and here the wallpaper is used on one wall with the wall containing the windows and curtaining in a solid colour. If this were being used for real, the wallpaper would be used on two of the walls with the remaining two walls being plain. In fact, the curtains take up a good part of the left-hand wall.

The
scale is the right sort of size to show off the motifs but without
making them too much of a feature. One annoyance which I could not
see when I first produced the image but which I think I can see now
is that the pattern does create a line of motifs running across the
wall. This is something that I, and most other designers, try to
avoid like the plague but now that I have seen it, and it is only
slight, it is difficult not to see it in the pattern.

I
think that this wallcovering gives a pleasant, open and very friendly
look to the room and I am pleased with the result.

If you wish, you can also see larger versions of this and, of course, my other designs and patterns for interiors on my Flickr page, a link to which is here.

In
this pattern I have tried to create a design which could have come
from the 1950s but which I have tried to make more up to date so that
it looks a little more modern and a little less old-fashioned.

Designs
like this appeared in the 1950s and, so far as I’m aware, they were
completely fresh in that patterns like this had not really appeared
before. I think it is also fair to say that, as the decade
progressed, designs like this tended to disappear and have only begun
to resurface with the interest in mid-century modern.

Many
of these patterns were designed as wallpaper and it is for this use
that I saw this design. I therefore used my mid-century modern room
which has a long wall in order to show how the pattern would look as
wallpaper. The swatch shows the background lighter but I wanted to
create a warmer look to the wall so I used a slightly darker
background colour. The pattern was never intended, I believe, to be
used as a very small scale although to show it off to its best it
does need a fairly large room.

If you wish, you can also see larger versions of this and, of course, my other designs and patterns for interiors on my Flickr page, a link to which is here.

I decided to see how this 1950s pattern could best be used, the pattern is a busy one and the colour and overall look are quite strong and so the obvious choice would be fashion or soft furnishings. I have never been able to produce realistic looking fashion mockups and so I endeavoured to create a curtain fabric.

The
rooms that I usually use did not seem to take the pattern
particularly well but I have found a room which began life as a
mid-century inspired room and the pattern used here as curtains
produced a very acceptable result.

I
have shown the curtains as they appear open during daylight since I
think that this gives the best idea of the pattern and the colouring.
At night when the curtains are pulled the pattern is stronger, and a
lot bolder and this adds to the excitement within the room making the
window space very much a feature.

If you wish, you can also see larger versions of this and, of course, my other designs and patterns for interiors on my Flickr page, a link to which is here.

As
I indicated, this pattern was created with the intention of making a
textile file which I would then use as a texture. I therefore
decided to try the design as curtain material.

The image above shows the design as it would look as curtain fabric in, for example, a hotel or a large upmarket apartment. The background is mid-century nightshade and this is a difficult colour to match and to work with and I therefore decided to make the surrounding colours nondescript and this seems to have worked well.

As
you can see from the swatch in the previous post, the motif is small
and I have deliberately kept the scale reasonably tiny and this gives
a busy and interesting look to the curtains and helps to show off the
height of the room. The small-scale also helps to make the pattern
unobtrusive where otherwise it would catch the visitors eye and
create a look that was too domineering for the room.

If you wish, you can also see larger versions of this and, of course, my other designs and patterns for interiors on my Flickr page, a link to which is here.

There
are two patterns today, or at least the same pattern in two different
colours, which are used to give a different look to the same room.
One room is a conventional dining room such as may be found in an
upmarket house in the United Kingdom while the other is the same
room, perhaps after the property has been sold, but this time adapted
as an ultramodern living room although still retaining some
traditional values.

Both
rooms have walls that are decorated, although in one the decoration
is of a feature wall while the remaining walls are solid colours. In
the other room the wallpaper is on all the walls and serves the
purpose of providing a solid look to the walls whilst giving the
walls a different feel with their decoration.

The
design is a simple one and for this reason I have not included a
swatch. The colours are mid-century colours such as could have been
found at any time in that period. It is, however, true that so far
as walls are concerned they were normally light coloured although
reverse pattern wallpaper certainly did exist and was used. Although
this is mid-century inspired, the rooms and the look are completely
modern and up-to-date.

If you wish, you can also see larger versions of this and, of course, my other designs and patterns for interiors on my Flickr page, a link to which is here.